Return of a Nightmare
by Angel of Death3
Summary: The peace the Z Fighters shared for so long is broken again, by an enemy from the past that threatens to not only destroy Earth, but the entire universe...[COMPLETED!]
1. An Undead Nightmare

Return of a Nightmare

**Return of a Nightmare**   
-------------------------   
Chapter 1: The Nightmare Returns   
-------------------------------------

  
  
  


"Oh comeon! It'll be ok I promise!" Eighteen pleaded to her brother, Seventeen. Seventeen rolled his eyes. For the last hour she had been begging him to come to dinner with her at Kame House. Master Roshi, Krillen, Chi Chi,Goku, Gohan and Goten,Yamcha, Bulma, Vegeta, Trunks, Piccolo, Tien and Choutzu would also be there. They planned on having sort of like a reunion for all the Z fighters to celebrate how long and hard they have fought over the previous years. Of course, since Eighteen and Krillen were about to be married, she was invited even though she didn't actually help any of the Z fighters defeat any of the monsters of the past. Now Eighteen was begging her twin brother to go, but with little luck. 

"Look sis, if they wanted me to go I would have heard from one of them, not you" Seventeen replied. Since his revival after Cell's defeat, hes had little contact with anyone, basically being a hermit in the woods. Eighteen looked at him, a hint of anger in her voice, "Look, your MY brother, nobody minds you being there. Trust me, if Vegeta can get used to me he can surely get used to you." He just looked at her, knowing that this argument would continue until he agreed to go to their stupid reunion. "Fine" he muttered and walked past her, taking off into the sky. Eighteen smiled a little bit, proud of herself for her accomplishment, and took off in the sky after her twin." 

*****Meanwhile at Kame House, everyones getting ready for the reunion..everyone except a familiar, spikey haired, short man named.... 

"VEGETA!!" Bulma screamed. "Don't you dare!! Seventeen is one of us now just like Eighteen and I will NOT have you fighting with him at this reunion!" Bulma was having a time of it. Vegeta had overheard a remark from Master Roshi to Goku about Eighteen going to get Seventeen. Vegeta had been in a cranky mood as it was already and this really got under his skin to hear that the other "pile of scrap metal" would be coming. It was hard enough to live with Eighteen, but her AND Seventeen? 

He turned around and looked at her, anger flashing in his blacker than night eyes, "Woman, have you forgotten what those Androids did to us?! Its bad enough that the bald midget here has to have his little robot over, but you want to go and let that other one here too?!" Vegeta's veins were bulging slightly from his anger. Krillen heard that one, but because he really didn't feel like Vegeta beating him senseless in front of everyone, he let it slide. 

Bulma got right in Vegetas face, her blue eyes locked on his black ones, "Either he gets to come, or you can cook for yourself from now on!" He looked at her, growling a little bit, then stormed off. Bulma smiled slightly and looked around at all her old friends. Gohan and Piccolo were sitting outside on the beach meditating, Chi Chi was busy trying to keep Goku from getting to the food, Tien, Choutzu and Yamcha were sitting around a table, laughing and telling jokes, Goten and Trunks were in another room giggling while looking through Master Roshi's.."magazines". As for Master Roshi, he was on the couch talking with Krillen. She smiled, thinking of the countless adventures she'd had with them all and loving every second of it. Her thoughts were interruped when Yamcha looked out the window and say Eighteen and her brother land on the island. Some of the fighters, Yamcha, Krillen, Tien and Piccolo cringed at the sight of Seventeen, recalling the beatings they had all suffered by him. But not Goku. Having never before seen Seventeen, he walked outside and offered his hand, still wearing his trademark grin. 

"Hi! My name's Goku, you must be Android 17" Goku said with a grin. Seventeen looked Goku up and down, his memory banks recalling all his statistics, moves, and a past history of him. Because his sister was standing next to him, Seventeen managed a small half-smile, but didn't bother to shake Goku's outstretched hand. Goku put his hand down but kept the grin on his face, "Comeon, foods about ready, why don't we go eat?" Seventeen opened his mouth to give a nasty reply but a sharp jab by his sisters elbow in his side stopped him. He glared at Eighteen and reluctantly followed Goku inside.

At dinner, there was enough food to stock a small grocery store. Even though he didn't need to eat because he was an Android, Seventeen ate his food anyway. He sat there chewing his food, head slightly bowed, not speaking despite the conversations going on around him. Piccolo and Gohan were discussing new attacks they were inventing, Goku was busy stuffing his face. Eighteen, Chi Chi and Bulma were discussing going shopping that day, Goten and Trunks were talking about the new video games they wanted to get, and Krillen was laughing about old memories with Master Roshi, Yamcha, Tien and Choutzu. Everyone was having a great time except for Seventeen and Vegeta. While Seventeen kept his eyes on his food, Vegeta kept his on Seventeen, silently praying the Android would make some sort of semi-threatening move so he could have an excuse to blast him to pieces. Seventeen glanced up,seeing Vegetas angry glare. He looked at him for just a moment before going back to his food. Vegeta however was not so eager to let everything be peaceful.

"What are you looking at tin can?" Vegeta demanded. Everyone stopped talking and eating to look at Vegeta. Seventeen said nothing but continued eating his dinner, not paying any attention to Vegeta. This angered him even furthur so he reached across the table and grabbed Seventeen by his shirt. "Listen Android! I don't who you think you are, but if you think you can just sit here and--EEAHHH!!!!!" Seventeen, without losing his calm complexion, grabbed Vegeta by his arm and slung him through the window and off the island, he landed in the ocean several hundred feet away from Kame House. Everyone looked at Seventeen who stood up and turned to go. "Thank you sis for inviting me here. I had a great time" he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Goku looked at Seventeen with a look of concern, "I know Vegeta can be a pain at times, but try to understand him a little bit please. Hes just a little cautious thats all." Seventeen turned to look at Goku, "Thanks, but I think I'll keep my distance." With that he walked outside and flew away to his cabin. Eighteen had started crying and Krillen was busy trying to comfort her. Bulma sighed, "Great...what a way to wreck the reunion.." Then she turned and looked at the ocean where Seventeen had thrown Vegeta and screamed "THANKS A LOT VEGETA!!!!". Seventeen was already halfway home by the time Vegeta pulled himself out of the water.

******Elsewhere, in a long-forgotten part of the desert.........

The mountain of rubble loomed like a giant. Inside was the wreckage of what used to be Dr. Geros lab before it was blown to bits. The rubble had remain undisturbed for years, no living soul had been in this section of the desert in ages. The mountain of blasted and destroyed rock and electronic equipment had remained silent...until recently that is.

****Inside the mountain..

The wreckage was massive. Dozens and dozens of destroyed machines and computers littered the ground. The chambers that held 16, 17, and 18 were now just scraps of metal, twisted and burned. Everything left in utter ruin..except a chamber in the underground of the lab, a chamber that had its entrance buried under countless tons of rock and machines. The chamber inside is small, about the size of a good sized room of a house. Inside is darker than a grave, the only light coming from machines and computers that are still active. In one corner are glass tubes, similar to the ones in which Cell grew, only larger. They are all broken and destroyed except for one in the very corner. A small sudden gust of wind from the outside blows some of the dust the unbroken tube off revealing its contents..

A brain..attached to the brain stem is a spinal cord, its nerves float lazily in the greenish liquid. A tag bolted to the base of the tube reads "Dr. Gero clone #3". The tags on the bases of the broken tubes read "Dr. Gero clone #1 and Dr. Gero clone #2". The computer screen begins to blink and flash.

Dr. Gero clone #1...Status...Deceased..

......

Dr. Gero clone #2...Status...Deceased..

......

Dr. Gero clone #3...Status........Alive....   


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------****

**_Well! Thats the end of Chapter 1! Write me a review telling me what you think. If you like, I'll continue the sage, if not I'll pull the story from my archive._**   
__ **__**

**_--The Angel of Death_**   



	2. The Evil Awakes

An Unwanted Reunion

-----------------------   
Chapter 2: The evil is alive   
-------------------------------

As expected, Eighteen showed up,at her brothers cabin later that day in a highly pissed off mood. 

"Seventeen you didn't have to do that! You and Vegeta wrecked the whole reunion! How could you!!" She screamed at him. Seventeen was reclined on the couch, reading a news magazine. Since his love for fighting had diminished quite a bit, he devoted his time to quiet reading quite a lot. He glanced up at her, a small grin on his face. "I didn't start the fight. I was content here in my cabin until you dragged me off to a god-forsaken little house in the middle of the ocean to eat with a bunch of weakling humans. Honestly Eighteen I don't see why you want to marry that little guy..whats his name again? Baldin? Shortin?" Seventeen teased. Eighteen growled at him " His name is Krillen! And he may be short and bald but at least he doesn't act like an ass!" Seventeen opened his mouth to reply but a thunderous explosion shook the ground, shattering all the windows in his cabin. Seventeen and Eighteen looked wide-eyed at the area where the force had came from, an abandoned part of the desert nearby. "Thats Vegetas Big Bang Attack!" Eighteen exclaimed. She quickly abandoned her brother and took off towards the source of the blast. Seventeen took off right behind her, as anxious as her to find out why Vegeta suddenly started blasting. 

******Meanwhile in an empty part of the desert... 

"Vegeta!! Do you ALWAYS have to take these sparring sessions so seriously? Its just for..WHOA!!" Goku ducked as Vegeta sent another blast, this one aimed right for Gokus head. Goku vanished, appearing behind Vegeta and kicking him square in the back of the head. Vegeta fell like a meteor, crashing through the ground and leaving a huge crator where he hit. Goku hovered overhead, looking for him to emerge. Underneath 80 or 90 feet of rock, Vegeta lay thinking. Suddenly an idea hit him. Bringing his hands together, much like Trunk's Finish Buster, he fired a blast through the rocks. Goku's eyes widened and he flew backwards to avoid the blast and flying rocks. Thats exactly what Vegeta wanted. He burst out of the rocks right under Goku, both palms pointed towards him. Goku had just enough time for what was going on to register in his brain. 

"Twin Big Bang Attack!!" Vegeta screamed as a Big Bang blast burst from each palm and scored a direct hit on Goku. The explosion ripped canyons in the ground and turned the sky white for a few moments. Even though Goku took the blast full-force, it didn't cause enough damage to make him stop fighting. The explosion blasted him through several mountains and clear into the sky. Eighteen and Seventeen arrived just in time to see the blast. They watched in amazement as Vegeta blew Goku right out of the battlefield. Vegeta looked around, trying to sense Goku's Ki. To his shock he couldn't! 'Oh no' He thought, 'I've killed him...Oh DAMN!!' Vegeta began to panic. "Ok Vegeta, calm down. That blast wasen't enough to kill Kakarot right? I mean..hes survived loads more than that.." He said to himself. Seventeen and Eighteen, watching from a cliff, looked around but couldn't see Goku anywhere. Vegeta looked like he was ready to crack. Not only because he thought he'd killed Goku, but because he realized his life is lterally over. His wife would leave him, his son would hate him, and all of Goku's friends would gang-up on him at once. Suddenly, Vegeta, Eighteen and Seventeen heard a very familiar word.. 

"Kaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeee!!!" 

Vegeta looked around frantically. He could hear Goku but couldn't see him or feel his Ki. For a moment he thought he had imagined it. Seventeen looked over at Eighteen "I hear Goku, but I neither see him nor sense his energy signal." Eighteen nodded in agreement and looked around for him. 

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!" 

Vegeta was on the verge of a panic attack now. But then he stopped as a realization hit him. 

"So..Kakarot has figured out how to completly mask his Ki..very cleaver......KAKAROT!! COME OUT AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!!!" He screamed. Suddenly Goku appeared right behind him, his golden aura so bright it rivaled the sun. Vegeta could feel every hair on his body tingle from Goku's sheer power. 

"This better Vegeta?" Goku asked very softly. Vegeta wheeled around and was met at point blank range with the biggest blast he'd ever seen Goku unleash. 

"HAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!" Goku yelled as he thrust his cupped hands, crackling with energy, right at Vegeta. The shockwave of the blast circled the Earth at least 4 times. Vegeta's whole world turned a blinding blue as the blast slammed into him and drove him at neckbreaking speed through the ground and deep into the Earth. After a few seconds Goku concentratred,willing the blast to explode. It immediently detonated, blowing a crater almost a half-mile deep in the Earth and 2 square miles in diameter. Seventeen and Eighteen's jaws almost hit the floor! "Incredible!!," Eighteen yelled over the roar of the explosion, "Imagine what that would have done to us!" Seventeen said nothing, but knew deep down if Goku had ever hit him like that there wouldn't be a chance in hell of him surviving. Both androids took cover as hunks of rock and dirt rained down everywhere. 

Goku flew down to the edge of the crater and looked into the burned, smoking hole. He reached in his pocket and pulled a senzu bean out. He threw it in, knowing Vegeta would find it and eat it before attempting to crawl out of the crater. He didn't even notice the probe implanted in the ground a few feet away,not did he notice it suddenly slip back underground. 

****Meanwhile in the secret underground section of his lab 

The tube that held the clone Gero's brain shook violently, but somehow didn't tip over and shatter like all the rest. Tubes hooked into the brain had come to life earlier that day and were already sending orders to the computer. Even though it was just a clone, it still had all of Dr. Geros old thoughts and memories. The brain stayed suspended, but it could still remember. Thats all it had done. It remembered a little boy named Goku single-handedly defeating the entire mightly Red Ribbon Army...it remembered the years spent on creating the Androids to kill Goku. It remembered the original Dr. Gero being beheaded by Android 17..It remembered the lab being blown up twice..once by Trunks, and then by Trunks and Krillen.. 

Suddenly the tube that was hooked up to the brain vibrated with energy. The Dr. Gero brain clone suddenly tingled a bit as the probe delivered what little bit of the blast energy it had absorbed to him. 'Yesss...now I have enough energy to command these machines...I can make them start work on me a new body now..' the brain thought. Dende only knows how long the brain had been down there, syphoning every bit of energy it could. Dr. Gero, in his great genius, knew Goku loved to fight and would do so out here in the abandoned desert, away from all the cities and people. What a perfect place to set these energy stealing probes...... 

******Outside at the battlefield, Seventeen and Eighteen had landed near Goku. Being androids, Goku never felt them coming.. 

"Oh hi! Didn't know you two were here!" Goku chirped in his usual friendly voice. Seventeen looked into the hole, even though he couldn't sense the fighters Ki, he had a feeling Vegeta was NOT going to be happy when he got out of there. Eighteen looked at Goku, "Why were you trying to kill Vegeta?" she asked. "Kill him?!" He replied, "I'm not trying to kill him, we do this all the time, its only for fun." 'Well, at lease I happen to think it is' he thought. "Kak..a...rot.." Came a weak sounding voice from the hole. Goku yelled down to him, "Eat the senzu bean Vegeta!!", then turned to Eighteen, "Since we've beaten all the monsters that threatened our world we really don't have a whole lot to do, so we come out here and spar with each other almost everyday and whenever a tournament comes along, we enter." Vegeta floated out of the hole and smirked at Goku, "You know Kakarot, you would have never got me if you didn't learn to hide your power like that." 'Great...he sure didn't stay down there long' Seventeen thought. 

"You like that? I always thought there was a way to do that and it took me a while, but I finally figured it out." Goku said with a goofy grin on his face. Vegeta just smirked at him and looked past Goku's shoulder, noticing Seventeen and Eighteen. "Oh look Kakarot, you must have a magnet on you because your attracting a lot of scrap metal. Eighteen rolled her eyes and ignored him, used to such insults. Seventeen however, did a perfect imitation of Vegetas smirk at him, which angered the hot-tempered Prince even more. Vegeta powered back into SSJ and prepared to lunge at Seventeen when Goku put a hand on him to stop him. "Vegeta, you did start it with him you know." Goku said, trying to calm the fellow Saiyan down. Seventeen, unable to resist, replied, "Whats the matter little pwincy wincy? Big bad Goku made you cry?" Seventeen started doing an impersonation of a crying baby. Vegeta screamed and jumped at him. Goku tackled Vegeta to try and keep Seventeen from being turned into rubble. "You guys better get outta here until he calms down!" Goku yelled over Vegetas cursing and death-threats to everyone, Goku included. Eighteen flew off. Seventeen smirked at Vegeta and followed his sister. All of them unaware of the events happening underground below them.. 

*******Back underground.. 

The machines in Dr. Geros lab buzzed with life. After absorbing some of the energy from Vegeta and Goku's attacks, the brain finally had enough energy to begin his reign of evil again. But, he couldn't do anything trapped in this damned tube. So he had commanded the droids and machines to begin building himself a new body. It was scarcely an hour ago, but his body was almost finished. He couldn't see it literally, but the computer had downloaded an image of it to him. It was beautiful, almost exactly like the one he had as Android #20, but a little bigger and this time without so much hair. As the one who would rule Earth, he wanted to look young and powerful, not like some old coot. He chuckled silently to himself. 'What a genius I am..its only been about an hour and my body is already completed..the only thing that will take a while is to get..."settled in"..oh yes..I can almost taste Goku's blood now..' the brain thought. Then everything went black as the extraction and relocation process began.. 

******Roughly 4 hours later.. 

Dr. Gero blinked...then slowly his systems came online. His eyes focused and he could see. A screen opened on his vision, detailing the statistics of his body; 

Vision....100%   
Hearing...100%   
Touch...100%   
Taste...100%   
Smell...100% 

Another screen opened up.. 

Artifical nervous system...100%   
Artifical muscle mass...100% 

Power level...100,000,000+ 

'Oh yes!!' he thought, 'according to these calculations I am as strong as Perfect Cell 3 times over!' 

A screen opened that read "Memory transplant sucessful" He smiled and looked down at his new body and gasped. He was stark naked! "Damn! All the time spent planning this body and I forgot clothes!" he shrugged it off. No matter, he had a selection of clothing in a locker he used for the Androids. A screen opened and he blinked in shock. "Well well...abilities list! I forgot I had implanted this!" He read over the abilities listed: Kamehameha, Big Bang, Finish Buster, Regeneration, Barrier, Special Beam Cannon, Masenko, Tri-Beam, Destructo Disk, Telekenesis, Dematerialization, Solar Flare, Galic Gunblast, Instantaneous Movement...He smiled with evil as the last two flashed on the screen; Final Flash.....Spirit Bomb... 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

**_Well! Finally the end of Chapter 2! What do you think? Keep it going or yank it out?_**   
  



	3. The Horror Revealed

TheHorrorRevealed

---------------------------   
Chapter 3: The horror revealed   
------------------------------

  


****Over at the Kame House

The day had just begun to turn to dusk. Krillen and Eighteen were sitting on the porch, talking about their upcoming wedding. Tien, Yamcha, and Choutzu were off training while Goten was sleeping over at Bulma and Vegetas house for the night. Besides Eighteen and Krillen, only Goku and Master Roshi were at Kame House. Bulma invited Chi Chi over to watch movies with her (Much to Vegetas dislike). It was about then that a news bullotin popped up on the TV screen. Bulma and Chi Chi booed, but Vegeta smirked, silently glad such a thing happened, he was tired of that boring movie anyway.

"We interrupt our regularly scheduled evening movie to bring you urgent and disturbing news" the newscaster said. Then it flashed to a shot of a nearby city..it was completly annihilated. Vegeta bolted upright, his eyes wide with shock. Bulma and Chi Chi sat, completly numb from what they were seeing.

"It appears that the Androids have once again begun raining terror upon this peaceful city. After so many years of quiet some had thought it was too good to be true and well folks, they were right. Police reports show that..." BOOM!!! Vegeta blew the TV up with a fist-sized Ki blast. He growled loudly, going SSJ as he did. His energy flung pictures off the walls and threw furnature around like paper. "ANDROIDS!!" He screamed before blasting through the wall, headed straight for Kame House, where he knew he'd find Goku.

****Back at Kame House

Eighteen and Krillen were out on the porch with Goku, deep in conversation about the wedding and the house, and possibility of kids, when something struck Goku and Krillen like a bolt of lightning..It was Vegetas Ki, and it was closing in FAST!! "Oh uh..Uh Goku, do you feel that??" Krillen asked. "Yea..Vegeta..What a horrible emotion I'm sensing." Goku replied. Eighteen tried very hard, but was unable to sense Vegeta even a little. Suddenly he was right in their faces. He glared down at Eighteen and pointed his palm at her, time for talk is over, time to get serious is just beginning. "Whoooaa!!! Hold on there Vegeta, lets talk about this...please?" Krillen pleaded. Vegeta looked at him through green eyes. "I'll show you, then I'll blow that android to scrap!" he smirked. With that he turned on the nearest TV set. The news program about the Android attack was still on. Goku and Krillen's eyes bulged at the broadcast while Eighteen turned white as a sheet. "Oh no..Seventeen! Krillen I think hes gone berserk again!" She said. Goku placed two fingers to his forehead and concentrated, vanishing from sight. A few seconds later he re-appeared, holding Seventeen in his right hand. The dark-haired Android did NOT look happy.

"Well Goku you could at least have CALLED first!" He barked at Goku, but when he saw the news program, he almost went nuts. "Goku you can't POSSIBLY think we did this!" he said. "No, I don't. You were both here at the time this happened...But, if you two were here, and 16 and 19 were destroyed, I can only think of one other Android.." he said. Everyone gaped at him, "Dr. Gero!?!" they all cried out in unison. "Impossible! I killed him myself, he CAN'T be alive!" Seventeen protested. Vegeta scoffed at him, "Well if you two can openers were here, and that big lummox 16 is dead, then that HAS to be Gero. Theres simply no other way!"

Seventeen and Eighteen sat down, clearly disturbed by this. Goku tapped his forehead in thought and muttered something about being right back before he took off using Instantaneous Movement. Everyone waited..and waited..and waited...after about 5 minutes, Goku came back, looking like he'd just seen a ghost..and in a way, he did. "Get everyone...tell them to meet me at Capsule Corp in 1 hour" he said before vanishing again. Krillen looked at his wife and nodded, then together they flew off. Master Roshi, old or not, didn't want to miss this, so he departed as well. Seventeen looked at Vegeta for a moment before flying off after them. Vegeta didn't leave for a good 10 minutes...too lost in thought as to just what in the hell had happened..

*****1 hour later at the Capsule Corporation headquarters..

"Is everyone here? Gohan asks. He looks around. Vegeta is standing against the doorframe, Bulma and Chi Chi are sitting together at the end of the table. Trunks and Goten are sitting by each other on the other end, Master Roshi was sitting in a chair by himself. Tien, Yamcha, and Choutzu couldn't be located. Piccolo was sitting on the floor near Gohan, and Eighteen, Seventeen, and Krillen were standing against the wall by themselves. "Ok," Gohan said, "Father? Want to tell us why you called us all here?" Goku stood up and faced the group. "After hearing about the Androids destroying more cities, I did think for a moment Seventeen and Eighteen had somehow snapped and went back to being evil again..but I went and found Gero's lab..and what I saw was NOT the work of Seventeen and Eighteen." Everyone looked at him with wide eyes as he continued, "The Dr. Gero Android #17 killed a few years ago was, in fact. Dr. Gero. However.." he paused, wiping sweat off his forehead, "However, it seems Dr. Gero cloned his brain in case something like this every happened."

That last comment sent a wave of fear throughout everyone, even the Androids present, who were horrified to discover their old master was still alive. "Dr. Gero had 3 clones of himself, the first two apparently were shattered by an earthquake or something, the last one was still alive. Gero used machines to build himself a new body. He.." Goku stopped..sweat coming off his forehead "He somehow obtained cells from us..again..and this time he has more abilities that all of us..even me.." With that, Goku read off the abilities the new Dr. Gero had, hesitating on the Final Flash and Spirit Bomb. "Thats impossible Kakarot!! I never taught ANYONE the Final Flash! Not even my own son, he CAN'T know it, its impossible!!" Vegeta exclaimed. "Goku, are you sure about this?" Bulma asked with more than a little hint of concern in her eyes. "I'm positive...Gero's alive. He took most of his documents and fled the lab. He left behind some papers detailing the process..thats the only way I know of this.." he replied. "Did you..salvage anything?" Bulma asked hopefully. He shook his head "I destroyed the entire lab, this time for good. But I did manage to get this before I left" he handed her a envelope of computer CD's. She grabbed them up and ran to the lab to start analysis work on them. Gohan sighed deeply, "Ok everyone..you can go..We have to wait till Bulma's done with the CD's before we even have a clue as what to do."

***** Meanwhile, in a cave about 50 miles south of Ginger Town...

Dr. Gero looked around his new lab with a gleem of pride..Even though the droids built it, HE designed it, and for him, that was a good as actually doing it yourself. He looked over at the incubation tubes. Already 2 new Androids, #21, and #22, were complete. 'Just one more' he thought, 'and then I will be ready to dominate this worthless planet' Already he had destroyed one city with ease. He fondly remembered it, the police attempting to kill him with their pathetic firearms. He had "dispatched" them all with ease. He smiled, still hearing their screams as he ripped them apart, blasted them to hell, burned them alive...all the wonderful things he had done..

"And tomorrow" he said out-loud, looking at a screen of Ginger Town, "Tomorrow we get to do it alllll over again!" And the the evening air was filled with his satanic laughter..   


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**__**

**_Well, worried yet? If not, get that way, part 4 is coming soon. This time Dr. Gero, #21, #22, and #23 square off against Vegeta and Goku. evil grin>_**


	4. The Battles Begin

The Battles Begin

------------------------------   
Chapter 4: The Battles Begin   
-----------------------------

  
  
  
  
  


The glow of the computer monitor bathed Bulmas face in light. For the last 4 hours she had been sitting at that computer, trying to decode Dr. Geros data CD. There was a tap on the door then Goku peeked his head in. "Any luck so far Bulma?" He asked. No sooner than the words were out of his mouth but he was roughly shoved inside the room by Vegeta, who had an even bigger scowl on his face than usual. "Hurry it up woman we haven't got all night you know!" he snapped. Bulma turned to glare at her "husband", "You know, it isn't easy trying to do this stuff! There are millions of codes to try, it could take me hours or weeks so just chill out for a while!" she yelled. Vegeta just grunted in dissatisfaction and stormed off. Goku walked over to sit next to his life-long friend. "Wow Bulma, that looks pretty hard" he said, staring at the screen with countless lines of code and numbers on it. 

She smiled at him, "Yes it is. I just wish that hardhead Vegeta could understand this isn't easy." "Hey I know he seems pretty rash, but hes just worried." Goku answered. Then, patting his friend on the shoulder, he walked out of the room and back to the others. Bulma smiled silently to herself for having such wonderful friend and turned her attention back to the task at hand.. 

*******Geros laboratory.. 

Gero flipped the switch to activate Android #23. The Androids eyes flashed red for a second before his programming came online. This android, as well as #21 and #22 were not like 16,17,18, and 19, they did not have thoughts or wants of their own, they were just mindless servents that spoke only when spoken to and did nothing they were not ordered to do. He got up off the table and turned to Dr. Gero. "What is your desire Dr. Gero?" the android asked. Gero smiled and said, "I want you and Androids 21 and 22 to go to the city I will designate, and once you are there, completly destroy it. Let NO ONE live and make sure the entire city is demolished" The robot turned and left, retrieving 21 and 22 to go and carry out Geros orders. 

"Oh yes Goku..and once I have destroyed most of Earth, I will be sending Androids such as these to all the other planets you've gone where you've received help..this will be their "punishment" for assisting you." he cackled aloud. He watched his Android army take off and uploaded directions to Ginger Town to all three of them, describing locations of police, fire squards, and images and profiles of the Z fighters in the event they should show up. "Well, they may not have all the powers I have but its close enough" Gero said with a twinkle of evil in his eye. 

******Back at C.C., in the meeting room, Vegeta, Seventeen, Eighteen, Piccolo, Goku, Gohan and Krillen are sitting around, heavy in conversation with each other.. 

"This is stupid!! We're just sitting here waiting for those bolt buckets to show themselves, we should be out there AFTER them!" Vegeta screamed, slamming his hands on the table. Goku looked at Vegeta, "I know your angry Vegeta, you have a right to be. But we have to wait for Bulma to decode the disk before we know anything about what were up against". He turned to Seventeen and Eighteen "Do you two remember anything about Dr. Gero?" He asked. Eighteen spoke up, "We didn't exactly....talk to him much. He told us our purpose was to destroy you, but that was pretty much it." Seventeen started to say something but stopped and fell silent. Vegeta noticed this and immediently jumped on it, "Well 27, or 37 or whatever your number is, if you have something to say then say it!" Seventeen glared at him and turned to Goku, "Right before I killed Dr. Gero I snatched the Emergency Suspension Controller from him." Goku blinked, "Emergency Suspension Controller? Like an off switch?" Gohan groaned at hearing this, "Yes dad, it was suppose to turn the Androids off in case they rebelled." Eighteen smiled a bit, remembering when Krillen put his own life at risk by destroying the controlled instead of turning her off. Her thoughts were interruped by Bulma bursting through the door, waving a stack of papers. 

"I got it!! I did it!" she exclaimed. Then her face fell slightly, "Well..most of it..some of it's still sketchy." Gohan looked at the papers she had and his jaw hit the floor. He turned to the others, "Dr. Gero has built Androids 21, 22, and 23. Hes using them to destroy cities for him. He gave them several abilities, such as the Kamehameha, Masenko, Big Bang, and Destructo Disk. Thats not all, they all have Dematerialization and unlimited stamina and, since they are newer models, they don't need to absorb or steal energy." He swallowed and continued," It gets worse, they plan to attack Ginger Town any time now!" 

Vegeta stood up, "Good enough for me. Now we kill them." Without giving anyone a chance to oppose, he blasted right through the roof and towards Ginger Town. Goku, Krillen, Eighteen, Gohan, and Piccolo followed suit, only Seventeen did not follow. "Aren't you going?" Bulma asked. Seventeen looked at her through pale blue eyes, "Why should I? When did any of them ever help me?" he replied. Bulma looked at him, noticing for the first time how young Seventeen looked. He must not be much older than...well, 17 or 18, maybe 19 at most. "How old are you? Err...Were you?" Bulma asked. Seventeen thought for a moment, "I don't remember..what does it matter? I don't remember anything before Gero and I didn't have a place after Gero, so I don't win either way it goes." Bulma began to feel bad for him, 'poor kid..did I just call him that? yea..I did..his life must be miserable, all he had before was his sister and now not even she's with him all the time.' she thought. She held out her hand to Seventeen, who just looked at it oddly. "Lets put the past behind us please?" she said sweetly. Seventeen just muttered something about silly humans and took off after the others. "Oh well...he'll come around" Bulma sighed. 

*****Ginger town, about 2 hours later. 

Goku, Krillen, Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan, and Eighteen touched down at the same time. They looked around carefully. Nothing out of place, the people that were out didn't seem to be in a panic, no cars raced to get out of the city..nothing. 

"Somethings not right here.." Piccolo said, his cape blowing slightly in the wind. Every looked around..nothing seemed even remotely out of place. A soft 'plat plat' sound was heard as Seventeen landed beside his sister. "So, found our 'daddy' yet?" he asked rather coldly. Eighteen glared at him for a moment, "No, and he ISN'T our daddy, hes a psycho." Seventeen shrugged and glanced around the city, mumbling something about humans being paranoid to death. After an additional hour of them all searching, no signs of an Android attack are found. "Well this certainly is nice but I have a life to get back to..Bye." Seventeen declared before taking off. Stunned and HIGHLY pissed, Eighteen follows with Krillen right on her feet, trying to get her, to no avail, to calm down. "Gohan, I don't know about you and the others, but I can't sit around waiting for a threat that might not even be coming. I'm going back." His aura flared and he blasted off towards Capsule Corp. "Hey! Wait up!" Gohan called, he turned to his father, "See you later dad!" then he too flew off, leaving only Goku and Vegeta to watch for the Androids. Vegeta scowled and kicked at some dirt, "This is stupid Kakarot. That woman of mine was wrong, there are no Androids here." Goku took one last look around, beginning to think maybe Vegeta was right, maybe the Androids wasen't coming here. He sighed and placed his hand on Vegetas arm, putting two fingers to his forehead. "What do you think your doing?!" Vegeta yelled, slapping Goku's hand away. "If I touch you while I perform Instantaneous Movement, you'll be teleported along with me." Goku explained. Vegeta considered this for a second, then let Goku place his hand back on his arm. 

Goku put two fingers to his forehead and at the last possible second before dissappearing, a loud BOOOOMMM!!! was heard in the distance. Goku stopped and stared at the direction of the boom, a large explosion had ripped into a small building. He flew up to get a look and his face fell. "Oh no!! Vegeta that was a church!! Think of all the people that were inside!" "For your information Kakarot, I don't give a damn HOW many people were in there! I just want those Androids!" Vegeta yelled back to him. He flew up in the air and stopped beside Goku, staring at the burning pile of rubble that was at one time a church. He looked around, but could see no Androids. "Rats! I can't sense them anywhere!" Goku growled. Suddenly a man that looked to be about his mid 40's appeared. He had shoulder-lenght black hair that was tied back. He looked to be about 6' talland had to weigh at least 200 lbs. The man was wearing a tight fitting white shirt that made his muscles bulge over black pants. Behind him, 3 more men suddenly appeared, each wearing grey sweatpants and black pullovers. Like the first man, they too looked muscular and strong. 

Goku squinted at the man for a second then dropped into a fighting position. "Vegeta its them!" he yelled. Vegeta instantly went SSJ. After a second of hesitation, Goku followed suit. "I see you recognize me Goku" the older looking of the Androids said. "Allow me to re-introduce myself, I am Dr. Gero, and this is Android 21, 22, and 23." Vegeta smirked at them,"We know who you are you junkyard escapee, now I'm going to take you apart bolt by bolt." The Androids just started at Vegeta then burst into laughter. Vegeta, clearly angered by this blasted towards Dr. Gero, "Nobody insults the Prince of all Saiyans and lives!" he declared. He cocked his fist back and aimed for Gero's face. Gero vanished, appearing above Vegeta. He looked up just in time to get Gero's foot right in his face, sending him plummeting to the ground and through the street below, leaving a large hole where he hit. Gero spit into the hole and turned back to Goku. "Now then, why don't you just surrender to us now and stop this pointless little game?" he asked. "I'll never surrender!" Goku shouted, "Why don't you just leave the people out of this?" Gero smiled slightly, "21,22,23, plan A, go!" he called. The three Androids immediently flew to different areas of the city and began killing and destroying everything they saw. "Nnnnnnoooooooooooooo!!!!" Goku yelled as he charged, slamming his foot into Gero's head before the Android even had time to move. Within seconds Goku was all over Gero, beating and battering him all over the city. 

A large BOOOOMM shook the ground, but it wasen't from the Androids, but from Vegeta, who had got his senses back and was now ULTRA pissed at the Androids, especially Gero. His golden aura flared as he charged at Gero, slamming his fist into his back while he was distracted with Goku. The Android cried out and stumbled. "No Vegeta! Go stop the others from destroying the city!" Goku yelled to him. Vegeta started to protest but the pleading look on Goku's face stopped him. "Alright Kakarot I'll save your damn city." he yelled. He then took off, if not for the numbers sowed into the Androids pullovers he wouldn't have a clue which Android was who. '23' he thought, seeing the nearest Androids shirt, 'Hmm..well, ones just as good as the other.' He landed next to 23, who didn't seem to be paying him any attention. The Android was busy shooting blasts at passing cars. Vegeta, in his best mock-cheerful tone, called out, "Hi Bolt Brains, wanna play?" The Android regarded him for a moment then pulled the information he had on Vegeta to his memory. The Android turned to Vegeta and assumed a fighting stance. "Aww, don't wanna play?" Vegeta mocked. The Android took off after him. Vegeta, smirking, rushed forward to meet the challenge.

Gero and Goku were going head to head. Goku had powered up to SSJ2 and was, at the moment, winning. Blow after blow landed and Gero was being roughly smacked around like a rag doll. Then, he vanished. Goku looked around for him but couldn't see nor sense him anywhere. "Looking for me Goku?" a voice said. Goku turned around in time to get a Ki blast right in the face. He fell towards the Earth like a meteor and crashed through a building. Cursing himself silently for not being able to get the Androids out of the city, Goku flew back towards Gero and resumed fighting.

Things were not looking good for #23. Vegeta was punching, kicking, and blasting him all over Ginger Town like he was a child. The Android, clearly not as strong as Gero, had hit back with a few attacks,but they did little or not damage to the super Saiyan. Android 23's frustration was starting to show. "I must defeat you! Its my job!" he shouted to Vegeta. Suddenly, Vegeta vanished and re-appeared behind 23, grabbing him and flying straight down with him. He released him, burying him inside the remains of a building. Using a few quickly timed blasts, Vegeta knocked the building down on the Android. With a huge smirk on his face, he flew down to where he could get a good view of 23. The Android was badly damaged and struggling to get free from the wreckage. "I..must..defeat..you...its...my....jobbb.." the robot stuttered. Vegeta raised his right hand and pointed his palm at 23. Even though they were about 30 feet apart, Vegeta could clearly see the fear on the Androids face. "Bigg...Bannng..." He stopped and looked at the Android, smiling coldly, then vanished. A second later he appeared right in front of the Android. "Must.....defeat.......you....its......my.......job..." was all the Android could say. Vegeta smirked at him, "Your fired!!" he yelled at him. The Androids eyes got as wide as saucers and he opened his mouth to scream. "Atttaccckk!!!!" Vegeta screamed as the ball of glowing energy erupted from his palm like a rocket and scored a direct hit on Android #23. The explosion rocket the whole planet. Goku, Gero, 21, and 22 stopped and looked at the direction of the blast. The explosion destroyed 12 city blocks and left a cavernous crater in the city. "No Vegeta!!! Not in the city!!" Goku screamed to him.

Big mistake. When Goku turned around, Gero, 21, and 22 all three jumped on Goku and began to beat him. Vegeta sensed Goku's Ki starting to weaken and he looked for him. He saw him, in the sky over the outskirts of Ginger Town, being beaten by 3 Androids at once. He growled to himself, "Nobody beats on Kakarot while I'M around, thats MY privilage!" He vanished, appearing right in front of Android 22. Without a word, he grabbed the Android and took to the skies with him, punching and beating him all the way.

******Up at Kami's lookout...

Dende watched the battles from the edge of the lookout. He closed his eyes and concentrated...

Piccolo!!>

After a moment, Piccolos voice rang in his head. Dende? What is it?> he answered. Goku and Vegeta are battling the Androids back in Ginger Town, you have to help them!> he said. Piccolo never answered back, he was already on his way back to Ginger Town.

*****Back at the battlefield...

Gero raised his hands, making some odd movements with them before pointing them at Goku. Goku gaped, "Thats Trunks Finish Buster!" he yelled. No sooner than the words got out of his mouth the blast erupted. He dodge, but not by much. #21 took this oppertunity to grab Goku in a full nelson and hold him steady. Gero was on Goku in seconds, beating and kicking him while 21 held him from escaping. Blood flew from Goku's nose and mouth as he was beat like a dog. "I grow tired of this, set him down somewhere 21." Gero commanded. 21 nodded and slung Goku like a brick to the ground. He crashed into the dirt like a rock. Gero cupped his hands to his side. "Kaammmee Haaammme HAA!!" he yelled, sendng the blue energy blast straight for Goku. He and 21 were so busy laughing they didn't notice the figure appear behind them. Without making a sound, a green arm reached out and grabbed 21, vanishing with him. Gero looked around, surprised to see his Android servent dissapear.

Goku opened his eyes slightly, the gigantic blue blast was coming right for him. He struggled to move, but found he simply didn't have the strenght. Then, at the last second, Piccolo appeared in front of Goku, holding a struggling Android 21 in his hands. He pulled back and slung the Android right into the blast. The explosion was terrific, almost blinding in fact. Gero ground his teeth, growling as loudly as possible. He didn't waste time, he used Instantaneous Movement to teleport back to his lab, leaving #22 behind.

*****In the skies above Ginger Town..

BAM!! BAM!! BANGG!!! The air resounded with the sounds of the battle going on. The Android, obviously one of Gero's weaker creations, was being banged and beat. "I grow tired of this, time to end our little game!" Vegeta declared. He pointed his hands at the Android, who was struggling to remain airborne. "Gallllic Gunblast!!!!!" he yelled. The purple beam rocketed towards the Android, who had no time to move. But right before it connected, Piccolo snatched the Android up and flew back to Goku with him. The Galic Gunblast harmlessly shot off into space. "Why did you do that Namek!?" Vegeta screamed. Goku, who had been given a senzu bean by Piccolo, yelled to him that Bulma needed one of the Androids alive to run tests on it. Scowling, Vegeta followed the others back to Capsule Corp..

*****Back at C.C.

Bulma had taken the Android, which Piccolo had bashed over the head to render helpless, in the back of the lab. Unlike 17 and 18, these were like 16, 19, and Gero, all robotic. Bulma had it hooked to a computer and was in the process of downloading its memory banks to the computer terminal. Outside in the main room, the Z fighters were sitting around discussing the events of today. "Well, I guess thats the end of Dr. Gero's little rampage." Piccolo said. The others started to nod slightly when Goku spoke up. "No, he wouldn't give up that easy. I know him, its just not like him to give up so quick." he said. Vegeta smirked ,"Well Kakarot, seeing as how his tin can army is now a bunch of scrap, I don't think he'll be doing anything furthur." The chatter in the room continued for hours, as did Bulma working endlessly on the Androids memory banks.. But back in Geros lab at that moment, Gero was busy too..on Android #24, which would have his exact fighting power...

"Oh yes Goku" he was saying "I may have let you believe you could win this time, but next time..will be quite different.."   


**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------******

**_Wow! Part 4's finally done. Now, on the upcoming chapter, the true nature of Gero's plans is revealed!_****__**

**_Like? Hate? R&R and let me know please!_**   
  



	5. 

Prelude to Disaster

------------------------------   
Chapter 5: Prelude to Disaster   
-------------------------------

It was a stormy night at Capsule Corp. After Vegeta, Piccolo, and Goku had drug in the Android. Bulma had been hard at work, downloading and deciphering its memory. She had been holed up in her lab for hours, leaving the rest of the Z fighters with little to do to pass the time. Gohan had went to a private study in the building, with a little help from Chi Chi, and had begun to study. Goten and Trunks had retreated to Trunk's room to play video games. Goku and Chi Chi were eating quietly in the kitchen. Krillen was fast asleep on the couch. Vegeta was sleeping by himself in Bulma's room and Piccolo was meditating outside. The only two not doing much of anything were Seventeen and Eighteen. 

"Look sis, I'm going back to the cabin ok? It may be minus a few windows but its better than sitting around this place." with that he turned to go, but Eighteens iron hand clamped down on his shoulder. "Look Seventeen, I know you don't like these people but they are trying to help us so just cool it ok?" she pleaded. He looked at her and scoffed, shrugging her hand off. He did not leave however, but wandered to a different part of the house. Eighteen sat and read a magazine for a while, but became bored after a few minutes. She too decided to wander the house. After looking around for quite some time, she decided to do some exploring. The first door she opened was to the kitchen, Chi Chi was barely done with her first plate while Goku had just started on his 11th. "Am I interrupting?" she called. Chi Chi gave her a desperate look then jerked her thumb to Goku, who was shoveling food into his mouth like it was something new. She smiled slightly and left to finish looking through the building. 

***Meanwhile... 

Seventeen opened the door to the dark room. The only light was from the TV where Goten and Trunks sat playing the video game. Seventeen glanced at the screen and immediently took a degree of interest; a car racing game. But on this one, you score points for running people and things over. Trunks looked over his shoulder to see who had entered and froze. Seeing that he stopped playing, Goten looked behind him as well and noticed the Android standing there. Seventeen looked at the game and back to the boys, "So, this is what you spend your time doing? Playing electronic games?" Even though he knew it might get him in serious trouble, Goten couldn't resist saying, "Well, your electronic too ya know, you might like this one." Him and Trunks burst out laughing at their little joke. Seventeen walked over to the boys. They began to get a bit scared, not knowing what the cyborg would do. Instead of touching the boys, Seventeen sat down and picked up the controller from the game system and, to the kdis amazement, began playing the game! And was racking up serious points. Goten and Trunks could only look on in amazement as Seventeen played the game like it was something he grew up with. 'Anything that involves cars and running people over I can get used to' Seventeen thought.. 

*****Elsewhere in Capsule Corp... 

Gohan was sitting at his desk, about halfway through a book on Advanced Algebra when his door opened almost silently. Android Eighteen looked in and noticed Gohan staring at her. "Um..something I can get you?" Gohan asked nervously. Eighteen looked around for a minute then shook her head. "No, just doing a little exploring." Then she noticed the books and said, "What are you reading?" Gohan looked at her a bit funny and invited her to walk in and have a look. Eighteen walked over to the desk and read the titles of the books; Advanded Algebra, Grammar for everyday use IV, Quantum Physics...'Wow, what a smart kid' she thought. Then outloud, she said, "Hey, I have a lot of this stuff programmed into memory, would you like me to help you study?" Gohan looked at her then his face brightened. "Yea! That would be great!" he exclaimed. Eighteen pulled a chair up to the desk and began to explain the problems in the Algebra book like they were Pre-K stuff. In no time, Gohan and Eighteen were talking and studying like old friends.. 

****Back in Trunk's room.. 

"Well..that pretty much does it for that" Seventeen said with a slight smirk. The boys, jaws still hanging, couldn't believe their eyes. At the most, their score was only a few hundred thousand. In less than 10 minutes, Seventeen had scored well over ten million. "Wow, you must play this game a lot!" Trunks said. Seventeen strolled out the door, "Kid, I didn't play the game, I lived the game" he said before leaving. 'Well, that relieved the boredom for a while..' Seventeen thought. He wandered down the hall, stopping when he heard a woman yelling inside the room. He walked in and saw Goku bent over, Chi Chi desperatly trying to get him unchoked. "Goku! Goku! Oh comeon don't do this to me!!" she screamed. Seventeen blinked and looked at Goku, who was turning a slight shade of purple from lack of air. Without a word, he walked over and slammed his fist into Goku's back. Immediently a large chunk of chicken dropped to the floor. Goku coughed and gasped for a minute, then stood back up. Seventeen looked at him, then at his wife, who had backed away in fear at seeing the Android. Goku blinked in surprise. "Number 17! I..I didn't..th..thank you! Very much!" He grabbed Seventeen before he could protest in a bearhug. 'Oww!!! Piccolo was right! Goku is a lot stronger than we originally though' he thought. "Let....go...NOW!!" he choked out. "Goku let that thing go! He tried to kill you and now your hugging on it!?" Chi Chi screamed. "Technically I never tried to kill him. That was Sixteen, all I did was try to find him." Seventeen corrected. "It doesn't matter now Chi Chi, he could have let me choke to death but he didn't. Thank you Seventeen." Goku said. Seventeen looked at Goku with a slight smile,"Don't get me wrong, I only did it because we are going to need you to fight Dr. Gero with us." With that he exited the kitchen, leaving behind a stunned Chi Chi and a perplexed Goku.

****Meanwhile in Gohans study..

Eighteen and Gohan were hard at work. Gohan, thanks to the Androids extensive knowledge, had learned more from the 30 minutes Eighteen had spent with him than any of the tutors his mom had hired for him. The Android had sat there, perfectly calm even when Gohan had failed to get the lesson right several times in a row. Suddenly, Gohan looked up and said, "Um..Excuse me, Number 18?" Eighteen looked at him, "Yes Gohan? Something wrong?" she asked. "Do you want to kill my dad too?" he asked. Eighteen blinked at the question, "No Gohan, neither me nor Seventeen wanted to kill Goku. Sixteen did, but only because of his programming. All me and Seventeen did was try to find Goku for Sixteen to kill." She looked at him with a slight smile and continued, "Besides, Goku has been nothing but good to me since I came here." Gohan nodded and was about to say something when Chi Chi burst into the room. "Oh Gohan!" She grabbed him up and started hugging him to death,"My precious Gohan, she didn't hurt you did she? Are you alright?" She was squeezing so hard she didn't notice she was choking him. "Uggh!! Mom I'm fine, Eighteen was helping me study." he managed to get out. Chi Chi abruptly dropped Gohan, looking first at Eighteen, then the pile of books on the desk. "Wow, she really was helping you study." she said. She looked at Eighteen, "Well anyone that will help my little Gohan be a better scholar is fine by me." She said with a smile as she walked out. "Please tell me she isn't your mom.."Eighteen groaned. Gohan, picking himself up off the floor,muttered a "yes".. Eighteen just shook her head and laughed softly.

*****Back in Gero's lab..

The machines worked without stop, hurredly building Android #24. The robot would have identicle fighting strenght to Dr. Gero and could imitate all his moves. Gero himself had undergone alterations. After being beaten around so bad by Goku and Vegeta, he wanted to prevent that one from EVER happening again. Now he was stronger than ever and was going over the plans to what he called Project Obliteration. The plans were for 50 Androids, without names nor numbers, to be used as distractions while Gero and #24 destroy the Z fighters one by one. Maybe they would be physically weak, but it would suffice to give him time to carry out his plan of revenge. Gero looked over at where Android #24 lay. "Yesss....he will be complete soon...then Goku, I will finally have my revenge that I have deserved for so long.."

*****Back at Capsule Corp...

Beep! Beep! Beep! The computer terminal beeped loudly, startling Bulma from where she was sleeping next to the computer. She squinted, then yawned, finally sitting upright. When she saw the flashing red screen she instantly became alert. On the screen was a list of all the orders the Android had ever received. There wasent many, only 4;

1] Obey Dr. Gero without question, no matter what.   
2] Locate and destroy Goku.   
3] Eliminate all who interfere.   
4] Distraction Protocol.

"Distraction Protocol?" Bulma said. She typed a few commands and the Distraction Protocol came up. It explained that in the event Gero needed Goku's attention diverted, he would engage Goku in a battle until furthur command from Gero. 'Thats all these were for? Diversions?' Bulma thought. She checked the statistics on the Android. The power level was only 5,000,000.. "Only 5 million? Thats weaker than Frieza before his final form! Somethings not right here, why would he invest time to build 3 Androids that could easily have been beaten? Its just taking up time.." she froze at what she just said.. 'Just taking up time...' "Oh no!" Bulma said. She quickly typed on the computer some more and was shocked at what came up.

"HEY GUYS!! GET IN HERE!!" she screamed. In about 3 seconds Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, and Piccolo were in the room. Eighteen walked in a moment later. "Oh hey Eighteen! Wheres the others?" Goku asked with a friendly grin. Eighteen looked at Goku and said, "Krillen is still asleep and Seventeen is outside doing something with animals." They all examined the screen. It revealed Androids #21, #22, and #23 were merely test subjects, diversions designed to hold off the Z fighters until the machines in the lab completed an Android identicle to Gero. "Does it say where the lab is Bulma?" Goku asked. Bulma did some typing on the computer and a few seconds later a screen came up with a grid on it. Bulma typed in some letter/number combinations and a flashing red dot appeared. "Bingo! Thats where Gero's lab is located" she said with a hint of victory in her voice.

"Well then, lets go give our old friend a welcome back party." Piccolo said with an evil grin. "For once Namek you have a good idea." Vegeta smirked at him as he and Piccolo walked out of the room. Gohan took off after Piccolo,leaving only Goku and Eighteen alone with her. Eighteen turned to Bulma. "Bulma, you still have the plans for the emergency suspension controller?" she asked. Bulma nodded. "Ok, good, make another one, but this time, make it exclude me and Seventeen. Maybe we can just shut Dr. Gero and #24 off. "Good idea! I already have you and Seventeens frequencies recorded, so I'll just make it shut down all Androids except for you two. Eighteen nodded and took off. Goku smiled at Bulma and hugged her neck before departing to go stop Gero.

******Back at Gero's lab..

The computer screen flashed and a strip of paper printed out from a printer attached to the computer. Gero picked it up and read it, "So...Goku and his friends are coming here eh? Hahahaha.....how ironic..thats exactly what I wanted!". He turned to the table. A large body lay covered up with a sheet. He yanked it back to reveal Android #24. The Android had long silver hair with grey eyes and was wearing black pants and a black shirt. Unlike 16,17,18,19,20,21,22,and 23, this one had no visible Red Ribbon emblem on its person or clothes.

Gero typed some instructions into the computer and #24 suddenly sat up, removing the wire from the base of its skull. Without a word, it hopped off the table and took off to Capital City, roughly 80 miles from Ginger Town.

"This is perfect..by the time Goku and his friends make it here, they will find me gone and think I have abandoned this whole charade." he said with a laugh. He took out some crates and dumped its contents all over the floor; Android parts, plans for Androids 25-35, blueprints for massive empires...all garbage, stuff he had no intentions of creating. "I'll let Goku find this old garbage and he will believe he's won..then, I'll strike when their guard is down!" he said laughing. Gero gathered what computers, software and machines he could then vanished using Instantaneous Movement.

****About an hour later..

Goku, Gohan and Vegeta,all in SSJ state, burst into the lab, followed by Piccolo and Eighteen. They rushed in to find...nothing! They began to rummage and explore the lab. In a short while, they discovered the "plans" Gero had left behind. "Well Kakarot, looks like we scared the tin man off" Vegeta said, slipping out of SSJ. Goku and Gohan followed suit. "Dad, it looks like Dr. Gero has given up..theres nothing left of his lab, and it looks like he destroyed all these old Androids." Gohan said, kicking at an Androids torso. Goku nodded silently, considering something for a long while. "Theres nothing left here, Dr. Gero is finished. Lets go home." Goku said. He, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo, and Eighteen turned to leave. Vegeta was the first one out. He was already charging up a huge Ki blast to destroy whats left of the lab. As they exited, a flutter caught Eighteens eye and she turned to see a piece of paper dangling off the edge of a desk she started to reach for it but Goku yelled for her to get out before Vegeta blows her up too. Taking one last glance at the paper, she took off. As soon as she was clear, Vegeta fired his blast. No one noticed the paper falling to the floor or the drawings of the strange, balloon like structures drawn onto it. It was all obliterated by Vegetas blast.

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------******

**_Coming soon: Return of a Nightmare: Chapter 6: The Androids Decision_**   
**_Still like it? Keep it coming? R & R and lemme know!_**   
**__**   
  



	6. 

The Androids Decision

---------------------------------   
Chapter 6: The Androids Decision   
---------------------------------

It was the dead of night. Even though it was unneeded, Seventeen had gone to sleep hours ago. Now he turned and tossed in his sleep. Nightmares were haunting his dreams. A dream of him and Eighteen as normal humans again. It flashed and he saw himself and Eighteen being beaten and bruised by a street gang. Another flash and they were in an ambulance together headed for the hospital, the only thing that stood out about the ambulance was the old man with the beard that told them he was the "head paramedic". Another flash..they were in some type of room, it smelled of sterility. 'Must be the hospital' he thought. Then he glanced over and saw Eighteen laid out on a table. Her body cut open, most of her organs removed and replaced with small machines. In his dream he saw this old man apply a chemical which stripped every inch of skin off her. He then coated her fleshless body with a clear chemical, which in seconds turned skin color and covered her from head to toe. He saw the old man implant artificial muscle and various organs. He saw her bones coated with a thin sheet of metal stronger than anything mankind had ever seen before..He thought it was a crazy nightmare but as the old man finished with her and started for him..he realized he wasen't having a nightmare.. 

He was having a total recall of the memories he had before Dr. Gero turned him into Android #17..and then he woke up screaming.. 

*****The next morning.. 

Seventeen had described the dream to the others the following morning. Usually he wouldn't have anything to do with them, but this desturbed him so greatly he had to talk to SOMEONE, even if it was Goku and his weakling friends. "So..thats what happened to us.."Eighteen said with a noticeable degree of shock in her voice. Goku, Krillen, Chi Chi, and Bulma said nothing. Vegeta and Piccolo had gone out in different directions early that morning to train. Trunks and Goten were outside playing games, unaware of the events of the previous night.   
Seventeen sipped his coffee, it would be the 9th cup he'd had in the last 30 minutes. 

Eighteen abruptly turned to Bulma, "May I ask you a question?...Alone.." Eighteen asked. Without waiting for a reply, she got up and walked off to the lab. Bulma, clearly puzzled, got up to follow her. Once inside the lab, Eighteen shut and locked the door behind them. Bulma looked a bit worried at being locked in the same room with the person who beat her husband to a pulp. Eighteen sighed deeply and looked at Bulma , "Can you make explosives?" she asked plainly. Bulma looked a bit taken back "Well..I suppose...yes I can..why?" she asked. Eighteen asked, "Can you make one with the force of an atomic bomb, or would that be too difficult?" Bulma, more curious than worried, replied, "Of course, the strongest I could possibly make would be using Plutonium Reverse Fusion. A bomb the size of an apple could destroy about 10 square miles in seconds, most anything in it would be destroyed. Most of the gang here would survive, even Trunks or Goten would survive it because their Ki keeps them from being killed by normally fatal accidents." Eighteen turned and stalked out, leaving a very confused Bulma behind. 

****An hour later..back in the lab.. 

"You want me to do WHAT?!" Bulma yelled. Eighteen and Seventeen stood before her in the lab. "Thats right. Do it." Seventeen said, his words hinting at a demand. Bulma gaped in shock at them, "Let me get this straight. You want me to build these Plutonium Reverse Fusion bombs...and then implant one in each of you? Why?! The Eternal Dragon removed your explosives for a reason." Bulma said. "We know, and now we need you to build a bomb with about twice the power of a nuclear blast and implant it in us." Eighteen said. "After talking it over with Eighteen, we decided that would be best. If Dr. Gero tries to take control of us again, I'll simply self-destruct and prevent that old bastard from getting me under his control again." Seventeen told her. Bulma sat down...running her hand through her hair. Finally she looked up, "Alright..if its what you really want. I'll start building them now, be back here in 4 hours." she said. Seventeen nodded and left. Eighteen leaned down and kissed Bulma slightly on the forehead, "Thank you. Trust it, this is for the best. Neither one of us could stant being under Gero's control again." she said before leaving. For a long time Bulma sighed, then she got up and proceded to build the explosives the Androids requested.. 

***A few hours later.. 

Bulma had Seventeen and Eighteen laid out on two seperate tables.They were both naked from the waist up, but covered by a sheet. Bulma pulled the invention she made over to Seventeen to begin on him first. The invention looked like a pair of goggles fixed to a retractable arm. She started to put the goggles over his face and stopped, "Are you two SURE about this?" she asked one last time. Both Androids nodded their heads. Sighing, Bulma held the goggles over Seventeens eyes and flipped a switch. A blue light shown into Seventeens eyes, he twitched for a seconds, then passed out. She turned to Eighteen, "This works by sending a tiny amount of Electro Magnetic Pulse into his brain, not enough to short his systems out, but enough to suspend them" she explained. Eighteen nodded and closed her eyes. She felt a bit vunerable being nude like that under that sheet, but since Bulma was only here to help, she accepted the fact she would see her topless. She couldn't help but watch as Bulma cut Seventeens chest open with a small knife. The look of amazement on Bulmas face was priceless. Instead of ribs, the Android had a small dome of a white colored metal. It was light, but Bulma knew instantly that metal would withstand most anything. She spotted a place to impant Seventeens bomb (which wasent hard considering 90% of his organs were removed. 

She picked up the device no bigger than her fist. After a few minutes, she had it reconnected to his internal trigger. This done, she closed the flaps of his skin and used a red colored laser beam the seal up the wound, almost like welding. When she was finished with him, she walked to Eighteen, goggle like machine in hand. Resolving herself to the fact this is the right thing to do, Eighteen gazed into the soft blue light and fell instantly unconscious. 

****About an hour or two later..in a small makeshift recovery room.. 

Seventeen woke up first. He felt a bit funny but the feeling quickly vanished. He looked down, Bulma had dressed him in a white tank-top. His clothes were in a bag next to his bed. As he was getting dressed, Eighteen woke up. She too was dressed in a white tank top. As the twins put their clothes back on, they said not a word to each other. "Seventeen, you know we did the right thing. I don't know about you but I couldn't STAND being under Gero's control again." She said. Seventeen said nothing but nodded in agreement. He got up and walked out. Eighteen followed right behind him. As she entered the main room, Krillen ran up and hugged her. "Oh man Eighteen! Why didn't you tell me you and Seventeens artificial nervous system needed repairs?!" Krillen exclaimed. Eighteen looked at Bulma who winked at her to inform her to play along. "Well Krillen, I didn't want you to worry is all." Eighteen said with a faked smile. Krilled grinned, "I was worried about you for a second there." he said. She patted his head and sat down. A slight weight in her chest reminded her of what was now inside her. Seventeen had gone outside to talk a walk. Eighteen sighed. 'Oh I hope I did the right thing' she thought silently to herself. 

***Meanwhile, in Capital City... 

Android #24 could have easily blended in. His black clothes and silver hair may have seemed a tad odd, but nonetheless he looked perfectly human. He even smiled and waved to passerby as he sat on the bench in the park, awaiting any command from Gero. He didn't have to wait long. After an hour or so a screen opened up. 

'Android #24, your objectives are as follows:' 

1] Destroy Capital City, leaving minimal survivors   
2] Destroy the Z fighters in the event they appear.   
3] Return to sky base when your objectives are complete or you run into considerable danger. 

Android #24 stood up, stretched, and then proceded to start annihilating the city, destroying and killing every man, woman, child, and building he could hit. Within seconds, blood and chaos rained down upon the city.. 

***Back at Capsule Corp.. 

Goten and Trunks were sitting on the floor playing a card game. Chi Chi and Bulma were folding clothes while watching a soap opera on TV. Suddenly a news bullotin appeared on the screen. "Ladies and Gentlemen excuse this interruption but it appears Capital City is once again under Android attacks!" the newscaster declared. Bulma almost had a stroke! "Impossible!" She screamed. Krillen heard the noise and rushed into the room. In seconds he saw it too and yelled for the others. Goku, then Vegeta, Piccolo,Eighteen, Seventeen and Gohan rushed into the room. None could believe what was going on. "Kakarot you IDIOT!! You should have killed that madman when you had the chance, whats wrong with you?! Are you a Saiyan or not?!" Vegeta bellowed. "Chill out Vegeta! You saw his lab too, it was trashed!" Gohan yelled in his dads defense. "It doesn't matter now, lets just get to Capital City and stop them!" Goku said. In a flash he was gone. "Damn that Kakarot and his Instantaneous Movement!" Vegeta yelled as the other had to resort to flying the distance. 

***Seconds later... 

Goku appeared in what used to be a building. Now it was a wrecked building with bodies strewn everywhere. He cringed, but looked around for the Android. He cursed the Android silently for not having a Ki to sense. He looked everywhere in the city, he could see people running, but they were running from all different directions. He landed in a park and found a man dressed in black clothing with silver hair sitting on the bench, watching the chaos with a calm, placid attitude. "Look mister you got to get out of here! Theres Androids on the loose!" Goku yelled at the man. The man stood up, he was about an inch taller than Goku. "I know..I am he" the Android said. Goku blinked and stared. "I am Android # 24, and my mission is..." "Let me guess, your mission is to destroy me, right?" Goku said. The Android shook his head no. "My mission is to destroy this city and all who interfere." 24 replied. "Well I'm going to interfere! You or Dr. Gero neither one have a right to destroy this city or its people!" Goku shouted before powering up to SSJ. The Android smiled a bit and flew up to the sky. Grateful the Android didn't want to fight in the city, Goku followed. After they were a ways away from the city, the Android signaled to Goku to land here. He did, and a few seconds later #24 landed near him. Goku stared at the Android who throughout the whole thing never took that slight smile off his face. 'He looks so calm' Goku observed silently. "Goku..I have seen memory clips of your other fights. You constantly try to persuade the enemy into doing good. Save me and you both the trouble." #24 yelled out to Goku. Goku opens his mouth to reply but is cut off as #24's fist slams dead-on right into his mouth. Goku, taken completly off guard, slams like a rock into the ground. He gets up, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. He glares at #24 for a second then charges, unleashing a flurry of kicks and punches, which #24 dodges easily. This continues for a minute or two, Goku punching, kicking, or blasting Ki at #24 with lightning speed, but #24 either blocks or dodges everything Goku throws at him. Goku steps back and screams, powering his body up to SSJ2. The Android watches until Goku is finished. The second his power-up is complete, #24 is on Goku again. This time Goku can keep up somewhat. Not all the Androids attacks land and some of Goku's do too. 

***At the outskirts or Capital City.. 

Vegeta grinned evily, "I can sense Kakarot's powering up. He must already be fighting the Androids." Gohan nodded and him, Piccolo, Krillen, Eighteen and Seventeen flew faster in anticipation of the battle ahead. Suddenly their way was blocked by a man whom Vegeta and Piccolo instantly recognized...Dr. Gero.. 

"Ah marvelous. I simply love Goku's Instantaneous Movement trick" Gero said. Eighteen recoiled in fear while Seventeen looked at his creator with a look of sheer hate. "Why do you look like that my children?" Gero said to Seventeen and Eighteen, "Don't worry, once #24 and I have killed Goku and his friends, I think I'll re-admit you two to my family." That was what Eighteen had been dreading to hear. Vegeta stepped up, a huge smirk on his face. "So you are alive huh? Thats good, it gives us the pleasure to kill you a second time!" Gero just laughed. "Theres something you should see first.." he says. He produces a screen the size of his hand out of a pocket and turns it on. It shows the world through #24's eyes. What they see is not pretty, Goku lying on the ground, beat and bruised, and #24 casually blasting his bleeding body with Ki blasts. "Daddy!" Gohan screamed going SSJ. Vegeta also went SSJ. At almost the same time, Gohan and Vegeta charged Gero. Without hesitation, Piccolo jumped in and began fighting in the fierce four-way melee. Seventeen looked at Eighteen and motioned her to follow him. Together they flew to the city to try and help Goku while there was still time.

*****Back at the city, where #24 was fighting Goku..

BAM!! BAM!! BAM!! BAM!! BAM!! #24's blasts tore into Goku's bleeding and bruised body. Goku struggled with all he was worth, but was unable to escape the Androids attacks. #24 stopped firing for just a minute. That was all Goku needed. "KAIO KEN...TIMES 20!!" he screamed. His body was instantly engulfed in red fire. #24's jaw hit the floor. Not having seen Goku use the Kaio Ken technique since Namek, Gero had failed to include it in #24's memory banks. Now he was left speechless as Goku jumped up and began to beat #24 into the dust! Every punch, every kick, and every blast connected head on and #24 was powerless to even move under Goku's lightning fast assault.

****Back in the skies above Capital City..

Gohan, Vegeta, and Piccolo were all three fighting Dr. Gero. Gero aimed a kick at Gohans head. Gohan ducked and used the momentium to sling Dr. Gero right into Vegeta, who pummeled him with fists of fury. After a few moments of merciless beating, Vegeta slung Dr. Gero to Piccolo, who took his turn at beating the Android into a pulp. Vegeta suddenly stopped fighting, an evil smile appearing on his face. He flew away about 50 feet and put his cupped hands together, gathering energy. 'Vegetas doing his Final Flash attack' Gohan thought, 'We have to keep Gero occupied until he can muster the energy to complete it.' Gohan and Piccolo picked the pace up, battleing the Android all over the skies..

****Meanwhile, at Goku's battle.

Goku was in trouble. The Kaio Ken had worn off and left him more exhausted than before. His punched and kicks became sloppy and soon #24 had no trouble dodging them. In mere moments the tide had turned and now #24 was once again beating Goku around like a little brat. Suddenly, #24 appeared behind Goku and double-punched him right in the spine with both fists. Goku fell to his knees, groaning in pain. #24 pulled his hand back and slammed his fist into the base of Goku's neck. Temporarly paralyzed, Goku fell on his face. #24 raised his hand, gathering energy to finish Goku. At the last second before he fired, a foot slammed into the side of his face. Seventeen and Eighteen landed, both stepping between Goku and #24. "Goku may have been Dr. Gero's enemy, but he isn't ours!" Eighteen yelled. "As much as I hate to spare him, Eighteen is right. Goku's never harmed us in anyway at all. Besides, if I don't get to kill him neither do you." Seventeen said with a smirk. Goku, although badly weakened, knew the two Androids could never beat #24. Telepathically, Goku pleaded with Piccolo for help..

Piccolo!>   
What the?! Oh its you. What is it I'm kinda busy> Piccolo thought   
Contact Dende, tell him to contact Bulma and use her machine to teleport the Emergency Suspension Shutoff thingy!> Goku pleaded.

Bulma had recently developed a machine which mimiced Goku's Instantaneous Movement technique. A few seconds later, Dende's voice appeared in Goku's head, telling him he's just finished contacting Bulma. Not less than 10 seconds later a black box appeared near Goku. Seventeen walked over and grabbed it. He turned to press the button but a punch by #24 stopped him. Eighteen dived for the controller Seventeen dropped and as her hand touched it her head was stomped by #24. Both Androids got up and leaped on #24, batteling for control of the Controller. Goku, seeing his chance, crawled slowly on his stomach to the controller. #24, clearly stronger than both Androids, had quickly and swiftly beaten Seventeen and Eighteen into the ground. He raised his hands to prepare an energy blast and right before he fired it, he just suddenly stopped. His eyes took on a blank look and he fell backward into the sand. Seventeen and Eighteen, seeing the Android fall, charged up a powerful blast and fired at the same time, scoring a direct hit on #24's face. The Android was instantly blown to bits..

Seventeen and Eighteen looked behind them and gasped. Vegeta was glowing brighter than the sun itself and he had an insane amount of Ki energy gathered. As Vegeta prepared to fire his Final Flash, Seventeen and Eighteen stood by, finally ready to see Dr. Gero be put to rest for all time..   


**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------******

**Th_ink its over eh? WRONG! Not quite. Gero still has a few tricks up his sleeve. Look for Chapter 7; Gero's Final Vengence soon!_**   
**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**


	7. Gero's Armageddon Revealed

Gero's Final Vengence

------------------------------   
Chapter 7: Gero's Final Vengence   
-------------------------------

Piccolo and Gohan certainly had their hands full. Gero was matching them blow for blow, never giving an inch despite their efforts. Having blown #24 to bits, Seventeen and Eighteen were helping Goku to his feet. In the skies above, Vegeta was almost finished charging his Final Flash. Eighteen reached her in pocket and produced a Senzu Bean. "Krillen asked me to give this to you in the event you were badly injured." she said. Goku took and ate it. Instantly the beans powers healed his body.Silently Eighteen wondered just where Krillen had gotten off to. Goku, now healed, got to his feet. He glanced up at the sky to see what he thought was a 2nd sun hovering low in the sky. A second look revealed it was Vegeta! And the energy he had compressed in that little area was almost 3 times the size of the Final Flash he used on Cell. 

Piccolo and Gohan were beginning to tire. As an Android, Gero never tired nor had to stop and rest, so he could continue fighting for eternity and not tire. 'Dammit Vegeta hurry!' Gohan thought. Then, as if out of thin air, Gero's arms slammed into his and Piccolo's stomach at the same time. Before he knew what was happening, Gero was beating him into a bloody pulp. Piccolo wasen't getting off any lighter, Dr. Gero was thrashing him around as well. Gero pulled his hands above his head, his eyes focused on Gohan. 

"MAAASENNKO!!" He screamed, hurling the yellowish blast at Gohans head. Gohan, petrified with fear, barely dodged in time. As soon as he was out of harms way, Gero was back on him, time time using Piccolos barely conscious body to hit him with. Suddenly all the Z fighters felt a rising power level off. They all knew instantly what it was...Vegetas Final Flash was ready. Gohan flew at Gero, smashing his fist into his face. Clearly angered, Gero took off after Gohan, who appeared directly in front of Vegeta. Gero rushed forward and as he did, Gohan vanished to reveal a VERY evil looking Vegeta and a ball of energy that could rival Goku's spirit bomb. Gero's eyes went wide with terror.. 

"FIIIINNAAALLLL FLAASSHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Vegeta screamed as the gigantic tidal wave of energy erupted from him and soared towards Gero like a meteor. He never had time to reach. The Final Flash rammed head on to Gero. The resulting explosion was at about the force of a nuclear bomb. The entire planet flashed yellow, and for a moment, every single living person on the planet went completly blind. After 10 or 15 seconds, the yellow glow faded and the people could see again. For the Z fighters, although it didn't blind them, it hurt their eyes so bad they had no choice but to close them. 

****At that moment in heaven.. 

From on his tiny planet at the end of Snake Way, King Kai was thrown completly off his feet. "Wow!! That was a big one! Vegeta sure took care of the Doctor all right!" King Kai said with a grin. He started doing a victory dance..with little knowledge that he was doing the dance all too soon.. 

***Back at the battlefield.. 

The smoke and dust had cleared. A canyon twice the size of the one left after Gohan and Cells Kamehameha battle was now in the middle of the desert. Seventeen and Eighteen were simply awestruck at the power Vegeta had. They had never seen him, or Goku for that matter, fight so fiercly before. Piccolo, although weakened, smiled at Vegeta. It seemed like only yesterday that the arrogant prince had came to Earth to overrun it. Now he was one of its strongest protectors. Gohan picked himself up from the rubble. "Wow Vegeta, that was great! Excellent shot!" he praised. Vegeta smirked at Gohan, not a smirk of contempt, but almost one of thanks. He looked over at Goku who was headed his way. "Well done Vegeta...well done." Goku smiled. "Kakarot, although I do in a small way apprechiate the praise, save it. You may praise me when I've finally kicked your 3rd class ass all over this miserably planet." He said with a slight grin. Goku grinned in return and held his arm out. "Touch my arm everyone, we can use Instantaneous Movement to go back to Capsule Corp at the same time. One by one, Piccolo, Gohan, Vegeta, Eighteen and Seventeen laid their hands on Goku's arm.

Only Krillen stood back, away from the others. "Goku I'm...I'm..staying here..I'm such a coward, when Gero started fighting I ran..I'm sorry. I don't deserve to be your friend, or Eighteens husband." Krillen said, a bit of a tear forming in his eye. "Hey its alright, I was scared too, I might have done the same thing. Don't blame yourself." Goku said, resting his other hand on his best friends shoulder. "I know Goku..its just that..I won't ever be as strong as you and I feel so weak compared to you.." Krillen said. Eighteen put her arm around her future husbands shoulder, "Krillen, don't speak like that. You were brave enough to confront me, Seventeen, and Sixteen before remember? Your not weak, I promise" she said with a smile. Krillen managed a slight grin, "I guess your right. Well, comeon Goku." he said placing a hand on Goku's arm. He concentrated and seconds later they were all standing in front of the Capsule Corp building. 

****In the lab where Bulma was working.. 

The screen flashed red suddenly. Bulma looked at it. At first she thought maybe she was watching the weather because she could see hundreds of balloon sized silver objects. A closer look and her eyes widened with fear. They were not weather balloons.. 

They were bombs, each with an explosize power equivilant to Goku's Spirit Bomb.. 

And the Bulmas screams brought everyone rushing in.. 

****An hour later.. 

"What the HELL is he thinking?!" Goku yelled. Goku was very rarely heard using bad language, so when he did he was usually extremely angry or terribly depressed. Bulma was sitting at the computer, pages upon pages printing out from a printer nearby. Bulma had finally cracked the rest of the salvaged Androids memory banks. It revealed that, in the event a near-fatal injury to Gero occured, the "Spirit Balloons" as he called them, would be released..not only on Earth, but on New Namek, Yardreck, and all the other planets he visited. Gero considered this his way of punishing not only the Earth, but the other planets also for helping him. "But how!?" Gohan yelled. Bulma explained. "Apparently these things have remained invisible and undetectable for close to a year now. Gero is using this as a failsafe. In the event he is nearly killed in battle, the balloons will.." she was then cut off by Vegeta, "NEARLY killed? What do you mean NEARLY killed? I finished Gero myself! Of that I'm certain!" he yelled. "No you didn't" Bulma countered, "If you had in fact killed Gero, the balloons would simply deactivate and be worthless. Apparently he's still alive.." she said. 

She swallowed and continued, "The power than Gero's been collecting all these years wasen't just to power his machines, hes been storing it up for some time now, sealing it into canisters which are transported by anto-gravity balloons. The balloons are all protected by some sort of sheild which derives Ki energy from the energy stored in the cannisters. I'm guessing..from all the sparring you and Goku have done in the desert..." She trailed off.. "Well..theres only one thing left to do....Find Dr. Gero!" Krillen yelled. "Agreed, lets go, we are wasteing time" Piccolo added. "According to the Androids memory banks, Dr. Gero created a final lab in the desert just for such emergencys." Bulma said. 'Man, how many of these damn things does he have?' Bulma thought. She printed a grid map showing the location of the lab. "Woman, how long before these damn things explode?" Vegeta asked. Bulma checked, "2 hours" she answered. "Then MOVE IT!!" Vegeta screamed at Goku and the others. "Gohan, go get Trunks and Goten. They are not very well trained, but we'll need everyone we have to defeat Gero for good." 

****Back at the battlefield.. 

Gero's final lab was a lot closer than the Z fighters thought. It was actually about 5 miles from the last fight. Inside the lab, Gero's body had regenerated and he was once again laid out on the operating table. This time was different. Gero had the Emergency Override Control embedded in his being. 'Now..if they want to save the Earth they have to kill me first' he thought with a smug smile. When the operation was done, Gero walked over to a cabinet and produced a box of capsules, 60 in all. "These droids will keep Goku and his friends busy while my death balloons prepare to blow up Earth and all the other planets who DARED to assist Goku. With Earth gone, I'll simply use Instantaneous Movement to travel to what planets are left. There won't be anyone left to stop me!" he laughed. He loaded the capsules into a specially made cannon and fired them outside of his lab and onto the grounds outside.. 

***On the way to the lab.. 

Goten, Trunks, Krillen, Eighteen, Seventeen, Piccolo, Gohan, Vegeta and Goku were headed for the lab. Yamcha and Tien had heard of it through Bulma, but due to the lack of training, had decided to stay clear unless absolutly needed. Gohan checked the map Bulma had printed for them, according to it they were almost there. Goku, usually a smile on his face, even in the most dire situations, was looking very stern-faced. Gohan assumed it was because he realizes what will happen if Gero isn't defeated. He glanced at his watch, he had an hour and a half left before detonation. 'According to this map, we'll be there in plenty of time' he thought. Vegeta turned to him and asked, "How much farther boy?" Gohan re-checked the map, "THERE!! Right there guys!" he said, pointing to an area of the desert surrounded by mountains. 

The group zoomed ahead, Goku landing first, then Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo and the others. They landed inside the mountain area, but saw nothing! Goku looked around for any sign of Gero. Finding none, him and the others started to advance forward. Goten looked around, seeing a lot of small capsules lying around, similar to the ones Trunk's mom uses. "Hey Trunks! I think your mom dropped some of her capsules!" he yelled. Everyone looked around, seeing bunches of capsules lying around. Goku's eyes suddenly got wide. "RUN GUYS!!" he yelled. 

Too late. The capsules all exploded at once. When the smoke cleared, dozen's of Androids stood before them. Unlike the others, Gero made these to look like machines. Their eyes flashed red then all 60 of them attacked the fighters at once. Goten, Gohan, Goku, Trunks, and Vegeta instantly went SSJ and launched themselves at the attackers. Piccolo and Krillen powered up as high as possible and joined in. Seventeen and Eighteen hesitated at first, but then joined in also. 

*****Inside the lab. 

"HAHAHAHAHA!! Perfect! They didn't suspect anything!" Gero crooned. He checked a timer, 1:15 (One hour, 15 minutes) until detonation. "As many Droids that I sent after them, it should take them hours to defeat them all!" he declared, producing a small black box that he clipped onto his belt. He pressed a button and a blueish-green shield enveloped him. He pressed it again and it dissapeared. He pressed and held it while he flipped a switch. The shield came on but then vanished. "Perfect! The shield is working wonderfully!" he exclaimed. Satisfied, he turned his attention to a monitor to watch Goku and his friend be beaten to a pulp.

****Back at the battlefield

BOOOOMM!!! BOOOOOM!! KAA-BOOOOOM!! The sounds of explosions and blasts could be heard for miles. With only 3 out of 60 droids destroyed and 1:07 left until Gero's Death Balloons detonated, the Z fighters were in serious trouble. The Super Saiyans had their hands full. Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, Goten, and Gohan all had 1 droid each, Piccolo and Krillen had one, and Seventeen and Eighteen had one together too. Suddenly 5 droids lined up, each with their left palm out facing the Z fighters..

BIG BANNNG ATTACK!!!! They yelled as one, sending 5 rockets of sheer power towards the fighters. Almost as one, all the fighters threw the droids to the ground and vanished. The explosion not only killed those 7 droids, but an additional 4 that got too close.

"Arrg!! You damn IDIOTS!" Gero screamed from his lab. He had seen the whole thing and was NOT pleased. Angered, he slammed his hands down on his desk, breaking it into pieces. He had meant to make them a tad weak, but not THAT weak! Secretly he wondered to himself where the Z fighters had gotten their new power increases.."Oh well, no matter." he said. He then adjusted the timer for the detonation. What had 1:03 left now had 10 minutes left. He smiled slightly and began to make his way outside to announce the end of the world to the Z fighters.

**_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_**   
**_What do you know? Last chapter coming soon! Ok, I won't give any hints or anything, but this last one if going to be a giant thrill ride!_****__**

**_Coming soon- Return of a Nightmare Chapter 8: Final Farewell / Divine Intervention_**


	8. Final Farewell/Divine Intervention

Final Farewell-Divine Intervention

---------------------------------------   
Chapter 8: Final Farewell/Divine Intervention   
---------------------------------------------

  


The sounds of the battle were deafening. All of the Z fighters, Seventeen and Eighteen included, were giving it their all in an effort to defeat the droids in time to stop Dr. Gero. Although not even Seventeen and Eighteen knew it at the time, Goku sensed a radical change of heart within the two. Eighteen had changed over to the "good side" long ago, but Seventeen had remained a loner. Now Goku sensed his feelings were starting to awaken. This was apparent by the intensity in which he fought and killed the droids. He wasen't killing for fun as he might have before, but he was killing to protect which he holds dearest, his sister.

Unfortunatly for Goku, he was wrapped up in his thoughts just long enough for one of the droids to barrel into him, knocking him flat on his face. Before Goku could move, the droid raised his hand and flung a Destructo Disk right at Goku's face. Goku turned around in time to see the yellow blade come flying his way. Just before it hit, a figure dressed in blue jeans, a black shirt, and a white long-sleeve shirt appeared in front of him. It was Android #17.

Seventeen pulled his leg back and kicked the disk with everything he had. Incredibly, the disk shattered into shards of Ki energy which harmlessly flung off into the air. Goku gaped at him. Seventeen turned to him and offered his hand. Goku blinked up at him before taking his hand. Seventeen looked...well, about seventeen. Like a normal teenage boy. For the first time, Goku saw that the Android looked frail, like a piece of glass that would break the first time its hit. Only the Z fighters knew that this "harmless teenager" was stronger than any human living on the planet. Seventeen pulled up, helping Goku to his feet. Goku looked at the Android boy, a look of gratitude on his face, "Thats the second time you've saved my life Seventeen..." The Android could almost see a glint of a tear in his eye. Seventeen then realized what the others had been trying to get him to understand all this time.

Love is truely the greatest power on Earth. Its stronger than any blast or attack, its stronger than any fighter, Goku or himself, or Vegeta, name it. Seventeen then truely realized Goku cared for him just as much as he did his other friends. Seventeen smiled then, for the first time in life, a smile not of contempt or cockiness, but a smile of happiness. Seventeen and Goku, backs to each other, then began to fight harder than they had every before.

*****Just outside the lab..

Gero stood at the entrance to his lab, watching the battle completly undetected. Not that he was invisible or hiding, he was in plain view. Except the droids were keeping the fighters so busy they didn't even notice him. He looked at the timer, 8 minutes left. "Ahh Goku...why bother fighting it? In less than 10 minutes I'll have realized my revenge. Then I'll move onto other planets and rule them. And when I'm done with them, I'll just blow them up too.." he said with a smile..

****Back at the battle..

Krillen and Eighteen were now fighting as a pair. Krillen and Eighteen fighting harder than ever before. After all the efforts of the Z fighters, the droids were now down to 35. Suddenly, without warning, 6 droids jumped Eighteen and Krillen. Too startled to react, they could do little as the droids beat them down to the ground. Suddenly one of them blasted them both with a point-blank range Ki blast. Stunned and injured, Eighteen and Krillen fell to the ground in a heap. The Androids lined to, both hands outstretched. As Krillen opened his eyes, he saw 6 glowing balls of evil power about to erupt and destroy him and the one woman he truely loved. He suddenly felt her hand close around him..

"Krillen..." she said. Krillen closed his eyes and prepared for the blasts to hit. They both knew neither one of them had the energy to move. Holding each other close, Krillen and Eighteen prepared to die together. Goten and Trunks saw what was happening, but were powerless to help as they had their hands full. "Krillen, Eighteen, RUN!!" Goten screamed. Eighteen laid her head on her husbands chest, glad at least they would go together..

"TRI BEAM....FIRRREEEEEE!!!" someone screamed from above. Krillen immediently knew who it was...Tien..

The triangular beam of yellow-orange energy rained down upon the 6 droids just before they fired. The blast completly destroyed them all. Tien, in an effort to avoid being sensed, kept his power level pushed so far down it couldn't be detected, even with a scouter. He smiled down at Eighteen and Krillen, who were looking up at Tien with amazement. Next to Tien, Yamcha appeared. He smiled at them, next to him Bulma appeared. Not using Ki, but the machine she invented they could transport items. "Uh..Bulma, what are you DOING here?!" Yamcha asked, obviously unaware Bulma was going to do that. "Thats MY man, and MY kid down there Mr. Loud-Mouth-Yamcha! I have a right to be here if I want!" she declared. Yamcha blinked and then smiled a bit. 'Yea..thats the same rude, abusive, courageous Bulma' he thought with a proud smile. "Just don't get in the way and get hurt." Yamcha said aloud.

Bulma nodded and took off running for the nearby cliff ledge where she could watch the battle without getting hurt. She produced a capsule and pressed the button. Throwing it down, it exploded in a cloud of smoke. When it cleared, a dome of highly tough, transparent material was over her. She smiled to herself. Having logged all of Vegeta attacks and studied the power behind each one, she was able to produce a substance that could withstand any attack up to a Big Bang. She was confident nothing stronger than that would hit her.

Back on the battlefield, the Z fighters had taken care of all but 12 of the droids. Trunks and Goten lined up, both making highly odd hand motions. The 2 droids that were coming after them suddenly stopped, their eyes blinking as they attempted to recognize the attack. The two boys stopped maving their hands and pointed their palms towards them, their thumbs and index fingers touching to make a diamond shape. The droids eyes suddenly flashed a warning.

*Warning: Finish Buster Immident. Immedient Retreat is advised. Repeat: Finish Buste--* The screen was cut off. Goten and Trunks fired. The blasts not only destroyed the two droids, but blew a gigantic portion of the mountain to bits. The Earth itself shook with the power of their blasts. Bulma was rattled inside her dome, but was unhurt. The other Z fighters, seeing only 10 left, picked up the pace. Tien, Gohan, Goku, Krillen, Vegeta, Eighteen, Seventeen, and Yamcha each took one apeice. Goten and Trunks double-teamed one. Piccolo had stopped fighting to look for Dr. Gero. While he was looking, he sensed a high power attack coming his way. He turned in time to see a Special Beam Cannon come zooming towards him. He raised his right hand and grabbed the beam itself! The droid, clearly confused, could do nothing but continue to fire at Piccolo, who was holding the beam like it was nothing more than a teddy bear.

"Allow me to show you how to do this properly" he said with a evil grin. He wound up and fired the beam back at the frightened droid. With no time to react, the droid took the blast right in his face. It promptly exploded his head and the droid fell to the ground in pieces. Looking around, he saw that the Z fighters had just finished destroying the remaining droids. With a little help from Krillen and Yamcha, Goku had beaten the droids into one pile and, using the Kame Hame Ha technique, had swiftly destroyed the remaining droids.

"How much time is left Gohan?" Trunks yelled. Gohan looked at his watch. "Plenty! We still have a half-hour left!" he yelled back. The other fighters began to cheer. Goten and Trunks did victory dances. Vegeta produced the biggest, cockiest smirk he could ever muster. Eighteen and Krillen held each other happily, Seventeen and Piccolo, although not showing it on the outside, were overjoyed.Yamcha and Tien cheered loudly, announcing the downfall of Gero and praising themselves and the other Z fighters. Goku breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Alright then, we have plenty of time to find and defeat Dr. Gero!" He yelled.   
  
"On the contrary Goku, I have plenty of time to defeat YOU!" Gero yelled. Everyone was too busy celebrating to notice Gero had appeared a little ways behind Goku. Goku growled a bit at Gero, "Enough Gero! Stop this! Turn the balloons off now, we don't have to kill each other over this!" he yelled. "Oh your right on that Goku, we don't HAVE to kill each other. I could play nice and disable the explosives...but I won't. You see, I'm going to enjoy watching you all die. And once your all dead then I can go on and make myself master of these other planets!" he laughed. Goku's golden aura flared around him and he charged Gero, slamming his fist directly towards his face.

It was like hitting a giant blob of rubber. Goku was instantly flung backwards like a toy. Vegeta's aura also flared up and he too charged Gero. This time everyone watched closely. Right before Vegeta touched Gero a green wall appeared and flung Vegeta on his back. Krillen, Piccolo, Goten, Gohan, Trunks, and Yamcha all together charged at Gero. They were all flung back as well. Tien, slightly puzzled, fired a Ki blast at Gero. It connected right in the face..or rather, WOULD have connected right in the face. The green energy appeared again and Tiens blast harmlessly deflected into space.

"Behold!" Gero yelled, pressing a button. Suddenly in the sky, at least a half-dozen large, silver balloon like objects appeared. The Z fighters looked up in amazement. "Behold, my Death Balloons" he declared, "They can withstand any attack you can muster because their energy shields are fed off your own Ki energy!" he cackled with laughter.

Goku, Yamcha and Gohan all three cupped their hands to their sides, Vegeta raised his palm to the balloon, Goten and Trunks made their signature Finish Buster hand movements, Piccolo touched two fingers to his forehead, Tien cupped his hands in the shape of a triangle and Krillen held his hand out as a glowing energy blade started to form. Not having any special attack, Eighteen and Seventeen prepared to fire their strongest energy blast.

"KAAMME HAAAME HAAA!!" Yamcha, Goku, and Gohan yelled as they fired.

"BIIIG BAANNG ATTACKKK!!!" Vegeta yelled as he fired his attack.

"FINISH BUSTTTERRR!!!" Goten and Trunks yelled as they fired their attacks.

"TRI BEAM FIREEE!!!" yelled Tien as he fired his signature move.

"DESTRUCO DISK!!!" Krillen yelled as he flung his whirling energy blade.

"SPECIAL BEAM CANNONNNN FIREEE!!!" Piccolo screamed as his screw-shaped blast erupted.

Seventeen and Eighteen fired as well. All of the blasts seemed to blend into one big white sphere as they reached the balloon. The blue from the Kamehamehas, the red,orange, and yellow from the Special Beam Cannon, the yellow of the Destructo Disk,Finish Busters andTri-Beam, and the red from the Androids blasts all seemed to come together to produce one big white blast about the power of Goku's Spirit Bomb.

All the Z fighters held their breaths as the ball crashed into the balloon. The explosion could have rung the ears of the deaf and cause the already blind to be re-blinded. The explosion shock-wave was so powerful it flattened the remaining mountains and rattled Bulma's "Ki-Proof" shield. For a second there she felt as if it would shatter on her. The Z fighters, who had their eye's closed, slowly began to open them. Then their hearts fell to their feet.

The balloon remained, not even a scratch, not even after all they had done. To make matters worse, Gero announced they now had 1 minute left until they exploded. "You did have 5, but the blasts just rattled the mechanisms and because of that you only have 60 seconds left. Too bad, enjoy it while you can!" he yelled with satanic laughter. Enraged, Vegeta charged Gero again, only to have himself flung back on his face.

"When will you learn? This shield detects incoming Ki and automatically blocks it. And since all of you have a life Ki, none of you can get to me!" he yelled, his voice mixing with his laughter. The Balloons overhead started to glow red slightly. "Just think, in 45 seconds this will all be over. Say goodbye to everything and everyone you've ever loved Goku!" He started laughing. This time, his laughter was cut short.

Faster than light itself, Seventeen appeared next to Gero, grabbing him in a bearhug. Within a split-second, Eighteen was also at his side, bear-hugging, or rather restraining, Gero. "WHAT?! How?! I don't get it, how the hell did you do that?!" He screamed outraged.

Eighteen smiled at him, "You said it detected Ki, thanks to you, me and Seventeen don't HAVE Ki anymore." She looked over at Seventeen, who nodded knowingly. Seventeen looked at Goku and Goku instantly knew what was happening. Quoting 'A Tale of Two Cities', a book he had been given by Bulma once, Seventeen looked at Goku with a tear forming in his eye and said, "Tis a far, far better thing I do, than any I have ever done.." Eighteen looked at her husband, her own tears falling from her face. "Krillen...I love you..my love..please forgive me, but I will not allow him to destroy all that I hold dear.."

Krillen, clearly about to go into shock, screamed for Eighteen and Seventeen not to do it. The two Android twins looked at each other and nodded and held Gero, who was screaming, kicking, and thrashing to try to get away, even tighter. The twins both started glowing, right when the glow became blinding, Seventeen whispered to Gero, "Thanks...Dad..for everything" there was sarcasm and contempt dripping in his voice. Then he took one last look at Eighteen, "I love you..sis...".

Then the self-detonation came. The initial explosion was only a flash of light, like Tiens Solar Flare, but then the Plutonium Reverse Fusion kicked in. The explosion was bigger and more Earth-shaking than even the biggest Spirit Bomb Goku could ever muster. The shockwave of the blast knocked out electronics for 100 miles in all directions. A space shuttle on the way back to Earth nearly crashed into an asteroid because the craft's pilot was blinded by the flash of energy. Way up on Kami's lookout, pillars and stone tiles cracked and crashed. On King Kai's planet, King Kai's house collapsed into rubble and his car exploded into fragments of metal and glass. Screaming that it was the end of the world, he ran for cover under a tree, Bubbles and Gregory hiding under his robe.

Bulma's Ki Dome shattered into a billion pieces and she was thrown out of her refuge and into the dust. The Z fighters, Goku included, were flung into the rubble as if they weighed nothing at all. The entire Earth shook in a violent Earthquake that took almost a full minute to subside. Glass from the buildings as far away as Capital City exploded, leaving people injured from the flying glass shards. All around the world, people felt the effects of the blast in one way or another. The Death Balloons, on Earth, Namek, Yardrek, and all the other places. sizzled, sparked and then fell to the ground, nothing more than hunks of garbage now. The energy from within leaked and poured into the Earth. You could clearly tell where a Balloon landed because there was no dead trees or grass for about a mile outward from the spot.

Back on the battlefield, the blinding light had subsided. The stunned Z fighters struggled to pick themselves up from the rubble. Bulma had recovered and staggered over to the fighters, her leg cut and bruised. They looked around. No sign of Gero, or Seventeen and Eighteen. Everything around for miles had been wiped out. No mountains, no lab, nothing. Just sand, rubble, and a surprisingly shallow crater in the ground that marked where Seventeen and Eighteen paid the ultimate price to stop Gero. For a long while no one said a word, then a glimmer caught Krillens eye.

It was a locket that he had given Eighteen a long time ago. It was in the shape of a heart, one side held his picture, grinning and flashing a "V", the other held Eighteens, smiling with a look of pure happiness. Yamcha, swallowing a lump in his throat, was the first to speak. "Seventeen and Eighteen sacrificed their lives to save this world from destruction.." he said with more than a bit of saddness in his voice. That was all that could be taken. Krillen broke down and fell to his knees crying. Goku also started crying, leaning on his best friend for support. Gohan blinked back tears, remembering how Eighteen had helped him study and how he had learned so much from her, then he too began to cry. Goten and Trunks, remembering how Seventeen was the only one who ever bothered to play video games with them, started to cry also. Bulma buried her face in Vegetas chest and started crying. Even Yamcha and Tien had tears in their eyes. Although he wasen't about to show it, Vegeta was close to tears also. 'I thought those tin cans were uncaring, selfish assholes...instead they gave everything they had and MORE, to save our lives." Vegeta felt a tear well up at the corner of his eye, a tear of gratitute that the "scrap heaps" he had scorned so much had destroyed themselves to keep not only him and the rest of the fighters alive, but his wife, his wifes family, and all the other people on the planet.

Everyone was crying so hard they didn't notice the ball of light appear behind them until it was glowing as brightly as the sun. Everyone turned to face it. Goku immediently sensed a Ki much different that anyone else..it was the Ki of Dende, the Kami of Earth.

Dende stepped out of what looked like a doorway and faced the fighters with a smile on his face. Behind him, two figures stepped out. 'They can't be Seventeen and Eighteen, they were Androids and I sense Ki from these two........unless...' he thought. Then he stopped crying and took on a look of total and utter amazement.

Seventeen and Eighteen stepped out from behind Dende. Both wearing the same clothes they had before this fight ever began. Seventeen in his usual black shirt over long-sleeve white shirt with blue jeans, and Eighteen with a white and black striped shirt with denim vest and blue jean pants. The crying immediently stopped for Krillen, who ran forward and grabbed Eighteen in a hug. They fell to their knees together, crying and holding each other. Goku looked at the small Dende and started to open his mouth, but a voice stopped him.

"Goku...you know better than anyone else that has ever lived, that people with pure hearts deserve a chance to live on. Android 17 and 18 sacrificed their own lives to save the very planet they were suppose to destroy, just as Vegeta did once. I will not allow such creatures of pure heart to pass away so soon." the voice said. Goku immediently recognized the voice as King Emma, Guardian of the Dead. Dende smiled at Goku, "King Emma made them human, thats why you sense Ki from them."

Without even thinking, Goku hugged Seventeen and Eighteen, who this time hugged him back. Everyone, Goten, Trunks, Krillen, Gohan, Bulma, Tien, Yamcha, even Piccolo and Vegeta, hugged the Androids. For a long time, they just sat there and cried and held each other. Eighteen, through her tears, reached out and took the locket from Krillens hand. "I'll take that back if you don't mind" she said with a smile as he re-clasped it around her neck. This brought even more crying from the group as any feelings of hate or contempt they had had for each other was swept away in seconds. Smiling, Dende, knowing that the fighters would be alright, stepped back into the doorway and vanished, never letting the most courageous group of fighters ever out of his sight. He smiled, confident that Seventeen would be fully accepted as Eighteen is now.

********Later that night..

Back at Capsule Corp, there was no big celebration party, no feast, just friends. Seventeen was invited to move into Capsule Corp until he found a place to live, which he accepted. Vegeta didn't even argue about it, he just gave silent consent. TV reports showed the blackout was the cause of "Electromagnetic Radiation caused from the nearby planet Venus's solar eclipse". Of course none of the Z fighters believed it. They knew the blackouts were caused by Seventeen and Eighteen when they destroyed Dr. Gero for the final time earlier. Krillen and Eighteen never looked happier. Even Chi Chi had hugged Seventeen and Eighteen for their heroic deed.

But one person was sitting alone on the porch. Seventeen, happy to be human and even happier to be alive, went outside to be alone for a while. He sat and for the first time in his life, thought things through. He remembered Goku choking in the kitchen and him saving his life by unchokeing him. He remembered the panic and fear on Goku's wife's face when she saw her husband choking. He remembered the tears his sister and Krillen shed with each other on the battlefield today. He remembered Bulma crying in Vegetas arms earlier. He remembered the last words he said earlier, "I love you..sis" Then a realization stuck him like a bolt of lightning.

THAT..is what Goku calls 'love', he said. His eyes welled up with tears as he remembered all the kindness that was shown to him since he'd been with the Z fighters. He realized his love for his sister and newfound friends was what prompted him to self-destruct to kill Gero. Seventeen smiled despite his tears and whispered to himself, "You were right Goku...love truely IS the most powerful force on Earth.."   
  
  


**THE END** ****

**_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_**   
**_At last! Return of a Nightmare is finished. This is my first EVER fanfic, a great feat for me, considering my first had 8 chapters to it. Well how did you like it? Worth reading? Please R&R to let me know!_****__**

**_Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!_**   
**__** **__**

**_-Angel of Death_**


End file.
